It's hard to say -- sometimes programs can get exposed pretty badly by changing leagues. Winning begets winning and all that, and you go from 9-1 every year to having some 5-5 type years and a couple losing seasons sprinkled in. Depth issues could be a problem. I agree though, I think Louisville would be fine in the Fed. They hang with Hoover always, and there's not much difference between the all of the Fed football squads (other than Green) these days. As long as they get to 6-4 they're good to make the postseason in D3, and very well prepared.

The other sports are going to be a wipeout, though. That's going to stir up some problems.

Wouldn't be a wipeout in boys CC and softball. Probably reasonably competitive in volleyball, girls soccer. Probably an uphill battle in most everything else. My guess is lots of finishes between 5-8.

Sorry do the math you cannot justify that number in any possible way.
So Football has Varsity, JV, Freshman and Jr High 4 teams with five trips each 20 trips. Assume 5 busses for varsity and 1 for all other levels.
Basketball has trips for Varsity, Freshman and Jr High trips same for girls about 11 trips for varsity and about 9 for the others. Total trips is 58.
Baseball and Softball has Varsity and JV and has about 10-12 trips for each say a total of 44 trips for both sports.
Wrestling has Varsity and Jr High and most trips are group meets that would not change a lot with a league change lets assume that you would have 7 longer trips in each for a total of 14 trips.
Soccer has Varsity JV together and Jr High. About 8 trips for each total of 32 for both boys and girls.
Lacrosse is not sponsored by Suburban league so that should not change at all.
Swimming, cross country and track both genders travel together and would have about 7 travels for each sport. I do not think there is sponsored swimming below high school so for JR High and Varsity there are a total of 5 sports with a total of 35 trips.

That is only slightly above 200 trips. Football certainly takes extra buses.
If they did take buses for Golf, Tennis etc add another 50 trips. Add an extra 4-5 busses for football. that still is less than 300 trips.

Mr Slippery did the math and the extra mileage for Green Suburban vs. Fed was 100 miles per sport per season. Lets double that difference and make it 200 miles difference per sport and say there is 25 sports for 5000 miles are you then trying to say that each mile costs $60? That is what it takes to reach $300K difference. Or if you take my 300 trips and say each trip is now 20 miles longer that is 6000 miles so each mile would only cost $50. Of course you need to factor in that your current OOC matches and games are now probably closer than they were previously so take something like 20% off that and you are back to $60 per mile.

I stand by what I say and will tell you that $300,000 difference is completely and utterly wrong.

Mr. Slippery said 6-7 buses for a coed track meet is out of his mind. That would mean that they are transporting 250 people? Do the meets take 12 hours?

I am still staying with what I was told. Erich Muzi is the AD at Green, played football and graduated from GlenOak...was the driving force to have Green join the Fed. Scott Garcia is the AD at GlenOak and head football coach. On his staff there are coaches that coached Erich when he played for GlenOak. I got my info from my conversation with GlenOak. I am still staying with what I was told.

I think his point was that McKinley is only a realistic title threat in those three sports (FB, GBB, BBB) and finish mostly in the bottom half of the league in the other sports.

I picked up on what he said but GlenOak Girls hoops team is building a pretty good program and I think they will be the team that dominates for awhile. I think with McKinley and Timken's consolidation, McKinley's track and baseball teams will be much better and could give GlenOak and Jackson much better games. Heck with their numbers in boys sports they could become more dominate then they already are, possibly even accomplish what Louisville did in the NBC. Now I said they could...that doesn't mean they will do it.....just having 300 more boys then GlenOak and 600 more then Lake gives them more options

Sorry do the math you cannot justify that number in any possible way.
So Football has Varsity, JV, Freshman and Jr High 4 teams with five trips each 20 trips. Assume 5 busses for varsity and 1 for all other levels.
Basketball has trips for Varsity, Freshman and Jr High trips same for girls about 11 trips for varsity and about 9 for the others. Total trips is 58.
Baseball and Softball has Varsity and JV and has about 10-12 trips for each say a total of 44 trips for both sports.
Wrestling has Varsity and Jr High and most trips are group meets that would not change a lot with a league change lets assume that you would have 7 longer trips in each for a total of 14 trips.
Soccer has Varsity JV together and Jr High. About 8 trips for each total of 32 for both boys and girls.
Lacrosse is not sponsored by Suburban league so that should not change at all.
Swimming, cross country and track both genders travel together and would have about 7 travels for each sport. I do not think there is sponsored swimming below high school so for JR High and Varsity there are a total of 5 sports with a total of 35 trips.

That is only slightly above 200 trips. Football certainly takes extra buses.
If they did take buses for Golf, Tennis etc add another 50 trips. Add an extra 4-5 busses for football. that still is less than 300 trips.

Mr Slippery did the math and the extra mileage for Green Suburban vs. Fed was 100 miles per sport per season. Lets double that difference and make it 200 miles difference per sport and say there is 25 sports for 5000 miles are you then trying to say that each mile costs $60? That is what it takes to reach $300K difference. Or if you take my 300 trips and say each trip is now 20 miles longer that is 6000 miles so each mile would only cost $50. Of course you need to factor in that your current OOC matches and games are now probably closer than they were previously so take something like 20% off that and you are back to $60 per mile.

I stand by what I say and will tell you that $300,000 difference is completely and utterly wrong.

Mr. Slippery said 6-7 buses for a coed track meet is out of his mind. That would mean that they are transporting 250 people? Do the meets take 12 hours?

Not out of my mind at all. Jackson has ridiculously high participation rates in cross country and track. I have friends who coach at other Fed schools, and 1 said Jackson pulled in with 7 buses at their dual meet last spring. I've driven behind them as they made their way back to Jackson after the county XC meet. I passed 6 buses.

Is Louisville taking 6 or 7 buses to some of these sporting events? No, but you can begin to see where it is possible to save greater amounts of money on transportation when a school is fielding larger teams.

Just for fun, let's look at potential travel for the Leopards in the Suburban American vs. the Fed:
Louisville's mileage 1-way in the Suburban American (7 locations): 263.8 miles
Louisville's mileage 1-way in the Fed (7 locations): 97.7 miles

Wouldn't be a wipeout in boys CC and softball. Probably reasonably competitive in volleyball, girls soccer. Probably an uphill battle in most everything else. My guess is lots of finishes between 5-8.

Wipeout probably is a little harsh. I think the problem is going to come when those 5-8 finishes are piling up in multiple sports. Parents take whatever sport their kid is in deathly serious. Going from near the top to the back is going to be a shock.

I still don't understand why the NBC ejected Louisville in the first place. Minerva was even their week 10 rival for 50-some years! It's not like Louisville would have dominated the gridiron from here until the end of time. Someone would have stepped up. Marlington did it this past year.

Any interest out of Louisville to join the Youngstown-based AAC? I think school size-wise it's s good fit. And I'd think the drive is no worse than Suburban league? Louisville would likely be in a tier with Boardman, Fitch, Warren Harding, Canfield, Howland, Youngstown East and Lakeside.

I remember Louisville put on a dog and pony show for the AAC higher-ups, but I forget which side said forget it (maybe both)

Maybe the headache of all of the large schools trying to be in a conference and trying to avoid playing one another all at the same time was a turn-off.

Wipeout probably is a little harsh. I think the problem is going to come when those 5-8 finishes are piling up in multiple sports. Parents take whatever sport their kid is in deathly serious. Going from near the top to the back is going to be a shock.

I still don't understand why the NBC ejected Louisville in the first place. Minerva was even their week 10 rival for 50-some years! It's not like Louisville would have dominated the gridiron from here until the end of time. Someone would have stepped up. Marlington did it this past year.

Oh, I agree. I'm not a big supporter of Louisville's re-entry into the Fed, in its current configuration. I'd be OK with a two-tier setup with Green, Lake, Perry and Wooster. However, I don't think the Fed has any taste for a two-tier league.

I think the NBC used Louisville's enrollment numbers as a part of the reason, although Louisville isn't that much larger than either Alliance or Marlington. Louisville has become pretty dominant in terms of number of the overall NBC titles won over the past 5 years or so and that is likely the real reason why the NBC wants Louisville out.

If Louisville joins the FL, will they continue their Little Leopard program in 7th and 8th grade?

I always felt that was probably the biggest advantage they held over other NBC schools when it came to football. It seemed to me to be the origin of "quality depth" the rest of the league could never catch up with.

If Louisville joins the FL, will they continue their Little Leopard program in 7th and 8th grade?

I always felt that was probably the biggest advantage they held over other NBC schools when it came to football. It seemed to me to be the origin of "quality depth" the rest of the league could never catch up with.

The Lil Leps program isn't going anywhere and will continue as is. Believe me. There has been a slight decline in turnout in recent years though

Oh, I agree. I'm not a big supporter of Louisville's re-entry into the Fed, in its current configuration. I'd be OK with a two-tier setup with Green, Lake, Perry and Wooster. However, I don't think the Fed has any taste for a two-tier league.

Yeah, a two-tier setup would be a non-starter for the Fed. Putting Perry in the second tier even though they just won the whole league doesn't make much sense. Wooster would never come back -- they were a perennial basement dweller and separated from their natural geographic rivals. I think the only way you can get a two-tier setup is to start adding schools that just decided they were done playing Louisville.

I still don't see the sense in ejecting them from the NBC. Very short sighted, I think. Hoover dominated the Fed in football for decades, but that ended too. You'd think they'd rather try to beat the top dog instead of just giving up.

Wooster would never come back -- they were a perennial basement dweller and separated from their natural geographic rivals.

I know from first-hand experience that Wooster has put feelers out there that they would be interested in a return to the Federal League under the right circumstances. In Wooster's first year in the Federal in 1989, there were two tiers, and they won their only FLC that year. After that, they went through about 10 years of serious lack of talent on the gridiron. With Orrville wanting no part of the 100+ year rivalry anymore, Wooster would still be able to schedule Ashland in a non-conference game. Regardless, I don't see the Federal ever returning to a two-tier system. If they did though, Wooster would be interested.

which brings us to - why is there even a need for wooster to have a two tier fed???

IF wooster was serious and had Lville and CCC sitting there ready, and dover and phila interested then why would wooster couple with west holmes and start a 6 team league. two others will apply in a couple years. Totally by pass needing a league to go two tiers when you can just create your own league. That would be 6 teams and that takes care of the back half of the season from a scheduling stand point. Finding weeks 1-5 is much easier than 6-10

Opinions and debates aside, after the dust settles, Louisville will end up joining the Federal league. It's like when you were that kid who got into trouble at school back in the day heading to the principle's office, you know that paddling is coming, however unsure how much its going to hurt.

Opinions and debates aside, after the dust settles, Louisville will end up joining the Federal league. It's like when you were that kid who got into trouble at school back in the day heading to the principle's office, you know that paddling is coming, however unsure how much its going to hurt.

Yes, it is the lesser of two evils for Louisville. BUT, don't be surprised WHEN they compete better than people expect. I won't be surprised. Concerning football, Louisville has always had kids that can throw and catch the football. At the HIGH SCHOOL level, skilled players lead to more success than lineman do, and Louisville has historically had a lot of them. Sorry, hogs.

opinions and debates aside, after the dust settles, louisville will end up joining the federal league. It's like when you were that kid who got into trouble at school back in the day heading to the principle's office, you know that paddling is coming, however unsure how much its going to hurt.

I have heard that this is far from a done deal and there are reservations on both sides. Interestingly enough, Little Leps is an issue/one of those reservations. The FLC has told them during informal talks that they will be required to play 8th grade football and Louisville, as one would expect, is reluctant to abandon its unique feeder system.

Why did the FED abandon a 2 tiered Fed back in the late eighties? What were the negatives?

That was a mess, both years there was 4-way champions and I think 3 of them came out of the stronger division some how. It seemed like there was the old FED on one side and 4 new teams on the other plus you got the added pleasure of driving all the way to New Phily and Wooster once in a while.

Why did the FED abandon a 2 tiered Fed back in the late eighties? What were the negatives?

Lake came into the league in 87, that year was just a one tier league. Then the 88 and 89 seasons were the only two years it was a two tier league. Louisville and Canton South left the league in 90 ...leaving New Philly, Timken and Wooster...they were then moved into a 9 team league till Timken left after the 94 season. The main reason I believe it went back to a one tier league is when Louisville and South left.

I just wonder about Central in a couple of years. St Thomas has 18 players committed to football right now. They have passing skills at Hall of Fame fitness on Monday and Weds and they have had nights where just 2 players showed up. Leagues and teams in this area may have to look at finding a way to work together